Notes
I was going to take today off, but a look at the forecast revealed that today was my last possible trail day before 2 straight days of rain. Then I thought I should drive down to my old stomping ground in Des Moines to run some Center Trails (plus my work computer was having issues so I had time). Then I started salivating over TAKING BACK MY TRAILS! And by that, I mean getting a few Strava Segments. And that's how today became a workout.
I began with 2miles of warmup on the bike path since I was starting with a 0.6mile road climb. My stomach felt slightly off and my breathing was sloppy and heavy, but my legs felt great. I started for my first segment feeling sluggish but soon found that speed. It was hard to tell what pace I needed as the final incline is very steep and slow. So I ended up taking this waaaay too hard and beat the old record by 30+ seconds (on a <4min segment)! This was sweet revenge as I took this record back in 2017 and then had it taken from me 3 days later (a bit sad it took me this long to try it again).
Next up was the main event: Rollercoaster, South-North, 1.5miles of generally uphill trail. And I'm pretty sure I created this one too. I don't remember losing it ever, but apparently I haven't been the record holder for years (by a pitiful 4sec). I started off strong, though once I hit the first uphill, I could tell I wasn't fresh. Still, I thought I was crushing it until I got my mile split (6:50, and I needed to maintain 7:00). That was actually doing well though as the last 0.6 is net downhill and I could roll to a 6:43 average and an improvement on the record by 20sec.
Mission accomplished, although I did have 1 other segment possibility. It started in the last half-mile of my previous segment and continued on for almost 2 miles. I certainly had already slowed to a crawl after finishing my intended segment, but after a half-mile of recovery, I decided to go for it again and push the effort back up. If only I'd had a little more intent as I would end up finishing just 10sec off the record.
So with a bit more confidence and preparation, this day could have been more impressive (there was even a 4th segment I could have accidentally gotten if I hadn't stopped at my car halfway through). Nevertheless, it was a fun day on trails and a great past week of training.
P.S. Lots of folks and kids out on the trails for a Tuesday morning. I guess I'm glad people are getting outside for social distancing?